Saturday, October 20, 2007

Back Home

Paul and I got back home this week after a great trip to California - north to San Francisco area to visit his parents, and then to southern Cal to visit with my sister and family, and to check in with the corporate office of the company I work for as a graphic artist. It was good to see coworkers again, and meet a new one (hi, Al!) whom I only knew through phone conversations and email, but after a few days in the office I sure was reminded of how spoiled I've gotten not having to commute to work in heavy freeway traffic every day! My usual morning commute is carrying my cup of coffee (with French vanilla creamer) from the kitchen to the computer desk. And believe me, I don’t take that for granted! It was a wonderful trip, but as usual it’s good to be back home.

(... pause to take a sip of fresh hot coffee - with French vanilla creamer - from my favorite mug ... )

I love this time of year. No matter how busy life gets in the fall, I thank God for a heightened awareness of seasonal blessings ... gifts that appear for a time and then are gone with a promise to reappear at their appointed time.

The spider lilies that have populated the yard since mid-September have come and gone ...

... hay is being stacked and stored for equine and bovine midwinter snacks ...

... it’s harvest time for cotton ...

This was a good year for cotton around here; most was taller than my husband, who’s 6 foot 2. I took these pics a couple of weeks ago.

Now the cotton is being harvested; it stands in huge, heavy bales by the side of the road until it’s hauled off to the gin (to get rid of those pesky seeds), leaving behind remnants on the ground that look kind of like the last patches of dirty snow that linger after the spring thaw in parts north. (snow simile courtesy of my childhood in North Dakota.)

... and a happy surprise that greeted us upon our return home ... the beautiful Confederate Rose hibiscus planted just outside our back door - a housewarming gift from a very dear friend - is in glorious bloom!

I've been seeing monarch butterflies in the yard, passing through on their yearly trek to Mexico. These days I’ve traded in my usual sandals for thick socks and tennies, and I’ve broken out my sweatshirts for the chilly morning hours; I’ve noticed that I’m wearing said sweatshirts later and later into the day. This old house is holding the morning chill long after the day warms up outside. I guess it’s time to move “thinking about getting some heat in here” from the back burner to the front!

And I am getting back into the daily routine ... including new paintings and continuing work on the house ... it’s kind of hard to get back into the swing of things after a long trip, but I’m newly inspired, and I’ll be posting new artwork soon!

2 comments:

Thanks, sis ... these misty mornings always remind me of you telling me that years ago when you would drive back to school early Monday mornings in the fall, after a weekend at home, you loved seeing the mist lying in the pastures and fields. Now that we live down here I get to see it all the time ... pretty cool.

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ABOUT ME

I’m an artist living in the farm country of north Louisiana, along with my husband, our four cats and five dogs.
I love to paint everything (including the walls in our house) and find constant inspiration in my daily life: dogs, cats, cows, horses, trees, fields, ponds and bayous, morning light, afternoon light ... you get the idea.
My work is greatly inspired by the style of America’s Golden Age of Illustration, particularly the work of Howard Pyle, N. C. Wyeth, Maxfield Parrish, Jessie Wilcox Smith, Elizabeth Shippen Green and others.
I’ve been painting my whole life, and I have sold my work to patrons all over the USA, Canada, the UK and Europe. As a follower of Christ, and with God’s help, my daily goal is to live every aspect of my life to the glory of God, from the most mundane and necessary of chores to the work I enjoy the best, ever grateful to be able to share whatever gifts I most graciously have been given.

Find my art here, too

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Published!

AN ARTIST’S JOURNAL where family, friends and mysterious strangers can see my paintings as they’re created, and where I’m liable to write on just about anything – the joy of creating art; life in the country; and, as a follower of Christ, aspiring to glorify God in all I do.

I’m happy to say that my art and technique has been included in this book by UK author/artist Gill Barron, the fairly famous Painter of Everything (she’s well on her way to painting everything in the entire world, and doing a beautiful job of it, too).

I have two step-by-step projects in the book, as well as several other finished paintings used as illustrations.